Leeds United secured their spot in the third round of the Carabao Cup draw as they beat Barnsley 3-1 at Elland Road. Mateusz Klich scored two for the Whites, while Luis Sinisterra grabbed a goal on his home debut to ensure Leeds eased past the League One side.
Here’s a look at the winners and losers from the tie.
Winners
Luis Sinisterra
Leeds fans were eager to get a proper glimpse of the man signed to replace Raphinha and he more than impressed on his first start for the club. The winger produced a few tidy touches in the opening few minutes of the game to give fans a flavour of what he was capable of, before lashing home Leeds’ opener.
Read more: Leeds United player ratings as Sinisterra and Klich goals see off Barnsley
Picking the ball up 30 yards from goal, the Colombia international moved the ball out his feet to beat Callum Styles, before curling the ball beyond Jack Walton and into the back of the net. He was at it again a few minutes later, combining with Mateusz Klich to engineer the space down the flank to run into before being hacked down in the area.
Klich stepped up to stroke the penalty home but Sinisterra got all the credit for his role in earning it.
Liam Cooper
The skipper made his first appearance of the season against the Tykes after overcoming the Achilles injury that had ruled him out of the first three Premier League games. Cooper missed a huge chunk of pre-season due to the injury, sitting out of the club’s five friendlies, but he was deemed fit enough to start at Elland Road.
He had two or three good moments in the first half, showing no hesitation in getting stuck in, before being replaced at the interval. Cooper looks likely to travel to Brighton on Saturday and he’ll be better for the much-needed minutes picked up in the Carabao Cup.
Mateusz Klich
The midfielder has been a peripheral figure under Jesse Marsch this season but he certainly made a statement with two goals in a fine performance against Barnsley. The Poland international scored the penalty that gave Leeds a comfortable advantage in the first half.
He then restored the Whites’ two-goal cushion with a smart effort in the second half, curling the ball beyond the keeper from 12 yards out. He had Joe Gelhardt to thank for the second with the youngster winning the ball back superbly to kick-start the attack.
Losers
Kristoffer Klaesson
The young goalkeeper would have been eying up the cup game as a chance to make his full debut for the Whites. Klaesson hasn’t feature for the club since he made an appearance at Wolves last season and after watching the first three league games from the dugout, he will have been itching to pick up some minutes.
However, Marsch went with Illan Meslier from the off, with Joel Robles being included on the bench for the first time. Klaesson is highly thought of at Elland Road, but he’ll have to wait to make a full debut.
Adam Forshaw
The midfielder captained the side on the night but he probably failed to take his chance to catch the eye and put pressure on those ahead of him in the pecking order. Forshaw was at fault for giving away a penalty, which was ultimately missed, but there were a number of sloppy passes and mistakes from the veteran.
It was by no means a poor performance, but he’ll have hoped to have made more of an impact on his first start of the season.
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